CSA vs Baskets

[Joseph Lofthouse]

For 2 years now I have tried to sell the idea of a CSA to
my townsfolk... They have been less than eager to participate.
(Too expensive up-front.)

So this summer I rethought my strategy...

I am now offering a basket of vegetables for $15 per week.

They get as much as they want of whatever is available for abundant items. If supply is limited for a crop I divide what is available between all the baskets. I call it my family plan.

People on my family plan always get the first of season crops, and the end of season stragglers. I'll make special harvests for them, for example harvesting new potatoes while the peas are in season, or making sure they get a cabbage every week, even if it means that I pick it smaller than I otherwise would. I offer storage/canning quantities of common richly abundant crops like corn, cucumbers, beets, winter squash, at no additional cost.

I love it! I am not promising people that my mental and physical health and well being will allow me to provide vegetables all season long. I like the consistency of knowing that most of my harvest is sold before I even get to market. It sure makes it easier to know how much to take with me. Some people sure give me dirty looks though, when I tell them they can't have the vegetable they have spotted in a basket because it has already been sold.

They love it because it is affordable and abundant.

We still have the same issues of possible crop failure, and some weeks might be skimpy, but the abundant weeks more than make up for it.

Since I am growing most of my own seed now, my biggest up-front cost is providing for irrigation infrastructure. I'm not planning on adding another field next year, so I shouldn't have that expense.

Regards,
Joseph

[Note added in February 2011: The new field sought me out despite my plans. LOL!]

[WesTex]

I totally understand your customers. While i WOULD participate in a CSA if i had one around here, it's so much easier for me (and most customers probably) to invest in vegetables they can see and smell and touch and enjoy tangibly than to give money up front for a crop in the future. We're just fickle like that. Maybe it's a matter of trust on their part. You know, not sure if the crop will turn out good, not sure if they're getting a fair deal (not to insinuate you are shady, just saying this is some of what goes through our head). When you can see the baskets of food before you, you can determine if it's worth the cost and you only buy what you can see and know you will use in your cooking. Anywho, good on ya! Wish I could have someone like you around here...maybe i'll be that someone someday!

[jack66]

you are a generous man Joseh.

Take care

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Jul 31, 2010 12:57:25 GMT -5 jack66 said:

you are a generous man Joseh.

Mostly it's just practical... When I get an overabundant crop I can either: Market it. Make worm food. Give it away.

I am not very good at marketing.

I don't like making worm food out of perfectly good vegetables.

I would rather give extra vegetables to my regular customers than to the food pantry. (Plus it makes up for the weeks when the basket is sparse.)

My local farmer's market accepts donations for the food pantry at the end of the market. I went to a market in the big city this spring and asked about making a donation and they looked at me like I was a crazy hick.

I struggled with the trust issue a lot. What if I get sick? Or can't get to market due to political/economic issues?

Regards,
Joseph

[littleminnie]

Nice idea. I am going to contemplate a mix of it and CSAs. I have 5 CSAs this year on Tuesdays, the prepaying helps so much with seed cost!! I do 1 Market on Thursdays and that leaves the weekend too open. However if I add CSA on weekends next season that means I don't get to go anywhere all summer. So your idea of a basket bought as such might work for the weekends. That way I could miss a weekend here and there and they couldn't say anything. It might appeal to more people than the prepaying.

[littleminnie]

I a wondering how the logistics of selling baskets kind of like CSAs would go. Like how would you get paid and know who took what?- you would have to be there when they pick up every time. I don't know there were just various difficulties coming to my mind when it comes to not having them prepay.

The problem with the population in general is they all want the popular veggies and none (usually) of the different stuff. They all want tomatoes and corn from week one to frost and are used to having everything available at the store so why not? My favorite CSA holder like everything and had nothing to list that she didn't like. What a joy to fill her basket!

[Joseph Lofthouse]

For me, I pick vegetables on Wednesday afternoon to go to the farmer's market in the evening. I know ahead of time that I will need so many baskets. It's normally the same people every week. Sometimes a new person will sign up. Sometimes someone will drop out or be on vacation. They let me know ahead of time if they won't be in town.

I offer my family-plan (basket) people: First of season crops, end of season crops, best of crop, and special crops that I don't offer for sale at the market. I also offer canning quantities at no additional cost for some items. (They might have to provide labor on green beans or tiny cucumbers). So my strategy is to pick first to get enough produce for the weeks baskets, (including anything special) secondly to get a bit extra to offer at market, and thirdly to pick anything that has to be picked today lest it spoil before the next market.

For the things that are in short supply I divide them between the baskets. For things that are in abundance I add some to the baskets and put some on the table for sale.

When my family-plan people show up, they pay me and take their vegetables. If there is something they don't want they leave it behind. If they want more of any item and there is some on the table then they take it. So far nobody has taken advantage of me. They are too conservative about what they take, and I am eager for it to be gone. (I'd rather send my extra produce home with my regular basket people than donate it to the food pantry or make worm food.) They often tell me "I don't want more, I have some left from last week"

Yes that means I have to go to market every week.... which is OK with me since I love the social interaction.

My basket people are like family... I know who they are, what they like, who their family is, what time they are going to show up, who they are going to bring with them. I think that I could stay aware of about 20 baskets by memory. More than that I might keep a list.

Each year I devote more space to the most popular fruits and vegetables and less to the odd things. I think I could get along well with lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, peas, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cantaloupes, watermelon, summer squash, and winter squash.

Next year I intend to plant the same crop (for example beets) at staggered times so I can extend the season for that crop. I did that to great effect this year with onions.

[littleminnie]

Each year I devote more space to the most popular fruits and vegetables and less to the odd things. I think I could get along well with lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, peas, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cantaloupes, watermelon, summer squash, and winter squash.

I agree with this advice. ;)The only tough thing about it is when the popular stuff changes or there is a general shortage of something. Then you really wish you had more of it! I wasn't even going to grow any beets this year but threw in seed in two beds and they are so slow and not doing well and I have had requests from several people for beets! What is up with that? Last year no one wanted any and I don't really eat them. LOL.

But you learn something every season like that and you find out you can't have it planned perfectly no matter what you do. And you never know what the bumper crop cycle will be. Usually you don't have two in a row of the same veg but it is hard to guess what will be overabundant or underavailable. I am just trying to learn better each season. I definitely am turning my mind to more popular veg and less unusual veg- unless I can get into an upscale market next season.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Aug 10, 2010 20:37:05 GMT -5 littleminnie said:

But you learn something every season like that and you find out you can't have it planned perfectly no matter what you do.

I had a huge failure this year, and I am regretting it every week at market... I forgot to plant enough cucumbers. The week that I would have normally planted cucumbers I was under tremendous anxiety regarding getting the irrigation system working properly in my new field. The crops were close to perishing so everything else got set aside to work on the irrigation system. The pipe is still not optimized, but it's passable. I'll use corn money to buy the last few parts that it needs.

I was intending to start a land-race cucumber breeding program this year and planted a 50 foot row of mixed heritage cucumbers. I forgot to plant 300 row-feet of cucumbers for market, so the breeding program got put on hold and I am taking the breeding cucumbers to market. Boo Hoo.

The other related failure is that I forgot to plant any pepo winter squash... No acorns, no delicatas, no spaghetti, etc...

I planted plenty of moschatas, and maximas. (Had them in the ground before the spring rains stopped.)

Regards,
Joseph

[mjc]

Joseph, you can always let a couple cukes on each vine get a little too big for market...and once they get a little too big, well, there's nothing much to do but let them finish out for seed.

[littleminnie]

Don't you hate that feeling of it being too late to fix a problem like that?
I had poor germination on bed #2 of corn and when I noticed I had to count the weeks to see if I could still seed corn in time. I did seed and am waiting to see when first frost is!

I also didn't end up with enough cucs or zucs. I reseeded both a couple times. At least they can produce relatively quickly from seed. So the zucs planted rather late are not far from producing now.

Also know what you mean about priorities and not having time to do something because something else is more important! In spring when the annual weeds start sprouting you have this decision to make on focusing on getting in the warm weather crops or taking out the weeds early as they sprout! Many a day I have had to fuss with irrigation too and let something else go.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Aug 10, 2010 23:26:23 GMT -5 mjc said:

Joseph, you can always let a couple cukes on each vine get a little too big for market...and once they get a little too big, well, there's nothing much to do but let them finish out for seed.

Giggles..... My sister helps me harvest for market, and she was out of town last week so she didn't hear about your suggestion, and she got there before me today and started picking cucumbers... And when I showed up she says to me..... "I saw the cucumbers that are all dressed up ready for a party". I had wrapped surveyors tape around the fruits that I want to save for seed. The maturing cucumbers look so good in their ribbons.

Regards,
Joseph
So pleased to end up with a breeding patch after all.

[littleminnie]

I'm still doing a lot of brooding on what to do next season. The market has picked up so much that I haven't ruled it out. However CSAs are easier to do for equal money and they are very popular. I have great feedback at the market but dealing with the CSAs is actually harder because some were not familiar with the arrangement or don't like a lot of the crops.
One idea is to have them pre-pay like $100 and then take orders for those folks and give like 20% off market price or something. That way they can buy what they want and I'll get money early on and give them a deal.
It will be interesting to see what i decide! I love hearing cool ideas of how to sell produce!

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Sept 16, 2010 21:30:10 GMT -5 littleminnie said:

One idea is to have them pre-pay like $100 and then take orders for those folks and give like 20% off market price or something.

My local farmer's market sells wooden coins that can be spent as cash at the market. (Round piece of wood with a rubber stamped image on it.) That allows the market to accept credit carts and USDA SNAP food assistance payments without the farmers needing to have a credit card terminal...



Perhaps you could do something similar... A payment of $100 at the beginning of the season is traded for $120 worth of coupons/coins/tokens. It would eliminate record keeping of what you owed to whom.

My local market does a dollar for dollar match on food stamps, so that if the customer debits $10 from their food stamp card they are given $20 worth of tokens.

Regards,
Joseph

[littleminnie]

Yes I like that idea of $100 paid ahead gives you $120 of produce! Perfect numbers and no ambiguity of what they will get for their money. Great idea for me to think on.